


Exchanging Hearts

by extraordinary



Category: Free!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Horrible Unintentional Innuendo, M/M, Typical Get Together Fic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-09-07
Updated: 2014-11-05
Packaged: 2018-02-16 10:19:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 18,794
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2266065
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/extraordinary/pseuds/extraordinary
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"It looks fancy." Rin agreed, reaching over to flick the clasp open for Haruka when he'd clearly run out of patience. "Not as fancy as mine, though. Even if it isn't a heirloom."</p><p>Haruka snorted, slowly opening the lid of the box to reveal Rin's star shaped Heart Stone resting neatly in the middle of the golden velvet padding inside. He hadn't realised he'd actually wanted to see it again—not until he was looking right at it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. It's Called Bonding

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first attempt at an AU. Let's see how this goes. :D
> 
> I've had this idea in my head for nearly a year now, and finally gave up waiting for someone else to write it. *wry smile!* 
> 
> This is probably going to be a-slow-get-together type of fanfic, starting with them at their High Speed! age... all the way up until they've reached their current ages. Well, that's the intention. We'll see how it goes?
> 
> (Tags will be updated as I go, but I can assure you now there won't be any terribly upsetting content that'd require warning in advance. No themes that aren't touched upon in the show, anyhow. It might get a little R-rated later on, though.)

  
Haruka couldn't remember the exact moment when he'd first realised his stone was different from the other kids', but he thought he must've been around six years old at the time. It had to have happened shortly before Makoto's first real growth spurt, when Haruka had still been able to meet Makoto's eyes without having to slightly crane his neck. The image of a younger, and much shorter version of his best friend—practically bouncing on the heels of his feet in his eagerness as he smiled brightly and held up his hands to show Haruka what he'd rushed over for—was one of the only clear recollections Haruka still had of those days.

  
That memory was precious to him, even now when he'd been thoroughly disillusioned: the first appearance of activity in the Heart Stones was nothing to get excited about. In fact, Haruka believed the stones themselves were nothing special at all. They were a nuisance at best; simply a distraction from the things that really mattered in life. Haruka couldn't see the appeal; he doubted he'd ever understand why some—if not most—people appeared to actually _enjoy_ showing them off, sometimes going as far as to wear them in gaudy lockets around their necks or wrists.

  
Haruka was glad he'd always have the excuse of being a swimmer at the ready—just in case anyone asked him why he never wore his. Even Rin, who had to be the biggest romantic amongst their group, didn't bring his along to school or the swim club. Haruka had only seen it once, when Makoto and him had been invited over to dinner at Rin's grandmother's place shortly after they'd met. They'd rushed upstairs to play video games in Rin's room as soon as they'd cleared their plates, and once they'd settled down near the bed Haruka hadn't quite been able to hide the way his eyes were continuously drawn to the small lacquered box sitting in the middle of Rin's pillow.

  
Rin had quickly caught on to Haruka's curiosity, of course. He'd waited until Makoto had gotten up to use the bathroom before pausing their game, and launching himself onto his bed to retrieve the item that had been taunting Haruka all evening.

  
"Do you want to see it?" Rin had asked him then, the glint in his eyes remarkably serious despite the confident grin on his face. "I don't mind."

  
There had been no reason for him to decline. In fact, it would've been unnecessarily troublesome to turn the offer down. Rin would have asked him all sorts of annoying questions if he'd refused, no doubt. It was easier to just go along with it, wasn't it?

  
Back then, Makoto's oval Heart Stone had already been as familiar to Haruka as Makoto's messy handwriting, or his kind smile. Haruka would've been able to recognise it anywhere—he'd actually seen it so many times by then that the novelty of it had long worn off. Rin's, however, had been very different from what Haruka had expected: the colours were more subdued than he'd imagined they would be, and they didn't swirl or change hues depending on the lighting the way Makoto's tended to. Rin's Heart Stone had reminded Haruka of the ocean moments before a storm, its waters deceptively calm yet undeniably alluring. He'd quickly averted his eyes, returning the vaguely sea star shaped jewel to a surprisingly solemn looking Rin. Then he had watched in silence as Rin stored it away again, running his fingertips over its smooth surface before shutting the box with a loud click. By the time Makoto had reappeared in the doorway, they'd already settled back into their previous positions in front of the game console—as if nothing had ever happened.

  
Later that night, safe in the confines of his own bed, Haruka had allowed himself to wonder why Rin had let the subject drop as easily as he had. There had been plenty of time and opportunity for Rin to ask Haruka to return the gesture of friendship by bringing his own Heart Stone along to school the next day, but Rin had simply acted as if he wasn't bothered by Haruka's lack of reciprocation at all.

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

  
A couple of weeks later, Rin had somehow managed to unabashedly invite himself over to Haruka's for a sleepover—mainly by claiming they needed to do some one-on-one bonding to improve their exchange for the relay. Haruka hadn't been able to come up with a plausible excuse or reason to decline before Rin was already dashing off again to collect his books, loudly boasting to their unfortunate classmates about all the fun he was going to have staying over at the Nanase residence during the weekend. Makoto hadn't offered any help either; he'd simply shook his head at Haruka with an infuriating smile on his lips. It _was_ true that their last tournament was coming up soon... and that their uneasy friendship could probably use a little more work. That still didn't mean it wasn't a horrible idea, though.

  
"Can't you come over, too?"

  
Makoto merely laughed, turning to smile at Haruka as they slowly climbed the stone steps leading up to their respective homes. "I don't think Rin would appreciate that."

  
"But I would." Haruka frowned, unamused by Makoto's traitorous tendencies. "My mother said she won't be home this weekend. That means I'm going to be _alone_ with him the whole time, Makoto."

  
"You'll be fine." Makoto sighed, coming to a halt in front of the path where he usually said goodnight to Haruka before continuing up to his house alone. "I wish I could join you, but I promised the twins I'd take them to that new indoor playground."

  
Haruka glared at his feet, signalling the end of their conversation. He _knew_ Makoto had promised no such thing—Makoto made a good friend, but a horrible liar.

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

  
The rest of the week passed by surprisingly quickly once Haruka had resigned himself to his faith. Before he knew it, Rin was following him—and Makoto, if only by proxy—home after their Saturday morning swim practice.

  
"Today's training felt great! I can't wait to get back into the pool, and practice my open turns some more." Rin exclaimed excitedly, tugging at the straps of his messenger bag. "We're going to win the next tournament—I can _feel_ it."

  
"Coach Sasabe seemed to think we were doing great, too." Makoto added a little more reservedly, nodding and smiling at Rin around a disgruntled Haruka.

  
"For such a little one Nagisa's surprisingly fast, isn't he? Not to mention tenacious..."

  
Rin was grinning so widely Haruka was worried his face would get stuck that way. He quickly looked away, tuning them out for the rest of the walk until they'd reached the Tachibana residence.

  
"Well, I'd better hurry and help out with lunch!" Makoto was saying, as he raised a hand to wave at Rin and Haruka in parting. "See you later, you two!"

  
"Bye, Makoto!" Rin called out from where he was already making his way further up the steps. Haruka watched him nearly lose his balance as he turned around to wave back at Makoto enthusiastically, and fought down the urge to pinch his nose. It was going to be a long weekend. "I'll try to return Haru to you in once piece."

  
Haruka threw Rin an unimpressed look before resignedly following along, pointedly ignoring Makoto's amused snort—along with Makoto's good-natured reminder to enjoy himself.

  
"Wait up!"

  
"What's that, Haru?" Rin shouted over his shoulder, making short work of the last couple of steps in front of Haruka's house. "Didn't feel up to a little race? I thought you were used to these stairs."

  
Haruka could've sworn he felt a vain twitch in his forehead. "You cheated."

  
"That doesn't count." Rin retorted, moving aside to let Haruka slide the door open. "You have an unfair advantage!"

  
Haruka didn't bother to reply. Instead he toed off his shoes and placed his _Iwatobi S.C._ bag down in the genkan. Rin followed his lead, bending down to untie his laces while mumbling a quick apology for intruding under his breath. Haruka easily moved around him to close the door behind them, hanging up their coats and scarves before motioning for Rin to follow him into the main room.

  
"Hungry?"

  
"Starving!" Rin replied, stretching his arms over his head as he studied the medals and trophies Haruka's mother had put up on display on a shelf near the TV. Haruka didn't understand why Rin was so interested in them—hadn't he seen them the last time he'd visited? It wasn't like Rin didn't have a fair share of his own prizes. "What've you got to eat?"

  
"I think there's some curry in the fridge." Haruka told him. "I'll go turn the rice cooker on."

  
"I'll help out!"

  
"I can do it on my own."

  
"That doesn't mean I can't help, does it?" Rin grumbled, trailing after Haruka into the kitchen despite Haruka's protest. "You're always so stubborn, Haru."

  
Haruka sighed, shoving a bag of rice into Rin's waiting hands and nudging him closer to the counter. Rin obligingly measured out a cup and washed the rice in the small bowl Haruka placed near the sink for him, while Haruka retrieved the left-over curry and placed it in the microwave. Haruka was surprised to find that they were able to move around each other easily as they prepared lunch together—he found himself relaxing as they leaned back against the cupboards, and waited for the rice to cook in a comfortable silence. It wasn't entirely unpleasant.

  
Haruka had honestly expected Rin to talk his ears off all night, preventing them from getting a decent amount of sleep and driving Haruka absolutely mad in the process, but he seemed to have no trouble at all adjusting himself to Haruka's less talkative mood while they were alone together.

  
They both jumped in surprise as the rice cooker finished its job with a loud beep.

  
"Can I use those bowls up there?" Rin asked, nodding towards the shelf next to the window. "Chopsticks are in the drawer, right?"

  
Haruka nodded absent-mindedly, reaching for the **START** button on the microwave. He made sure the plate inside had started rotating properly before moving over to help Rin scoop out the steaming rice and place the bowls onto a tray. Once they were done with that, they both stood there—admittedly little more awkwardly than before—and listened to the low hum of the microwave. Thankfully the curry wouldn't take as long as the rice had done.

  
"That smells great!"

  
Rin was already waiting for Haruka to place the hot plate onto the sink, proudly holding up a table spoon—one he must've found in the same drawer he'd fetched the chopsticks from. Together they made quick work of dividing the curry as equally as possible while they spooned it into their rice bowls.

  
"Go put these in on the table." Haruka ordered, as politely as he could manage with Rin literally breathing down his neck. "I'll get us some drinks."

  
Rin actually did as he was told this time, biting his lip in concentration as he carried the full tray out into the sitting room. Haruka quickly joined him at the kotatsu with two glasses of fruit juice and a couple of napkins.

  
"Your mother's such a good cook, Haru!" Rin told him earnestly, enthusiastically shoving spoonful after spoonful of rice into his mouth. "This is super tasty!"

  
Haruka wasn't sure how to reply to that. He settled on: "I made that."

  
"Really?!" Rin spluttered, placing his chopsticks down to stare at Haruka in shock. "Is there anything you _can't_ do?"

  
Haruka avoided having to answer that question by quickly taking a bite of his own curry. It didn't taste particularly special to him.

  
The rest of lunch passed with odd bouts of amicable silence. Rin seemed to be mulling something over—and Haruka wasn't going to encourage that kind of behaviour in his house. Rin was far, far too curious for Haruka's comfort.

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

  
Cleaning up after lunch turned into somewhat of a competition—what with Rin challenging him to see who could make it into the kitchen with their dishes the fastest. They quickly washed out the bowls and the empty plate, then settled back down at the table to play some digital races on Haruka's old GameBoy. When they grew bored of that, they discussed swimming techniques and their favourite movies. Or rather, Rin discussed those things while Haruka tried not to tune him out _too_ often—and remember to nod at the right intervals. Rin didn't seem to mind his inattentiveness, though. Each time he wanted Haruka to pay more attention, he'd bump his knee into Haruka's under the blanket of the kotatsu... or curl a warm hand around Haruka's wrist.

  
Eventually Rin dozed off, gradually curling up more next to Haruka on the floor. Haruka watched the steady rise and fall of Rin's chest for a long time, wondering if Rin's cheek would show the imprint of the woven pattern of the tatami when he woke up. Had Rin's earlier excitement tired him out that easily? Or did he genuinely feel comfortable enough around Haruka to drift off just like that?

  
Haruka sighed, reaching across Rin for the discarded GameBoy. He adjusted the volume to the lowest possible setting before turning the console on, and playing a couple of one-player games. He didn't feel like waking Rin up just yet.

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

  
"How is this supposed to improve our exchange?" Haruka muttered, trying to get comfortable in the currently overcrowded tub. "This is stupid."

  
Rin laughed, shaking his head so quickly the movement caused little droplets of water to hit Haruka's face and chest. "Shut up, Haru. We're _bonding!_ "

  
"Aren't we too old for this?" Haruka glared at him, sliding down further in the water—mainly to put an end to their discussion, but also to blow bubbles in Rin's direction in his annoyance. Out of all the things he'd expected to have to endure during Rin's stay at his house, taking a bath together had certainly not been on the list of the things he'd seen coming.

  
"The water doesn't care." Rin smirked at him knowingly. "Quit complaining! It's saving us time _and_ water—don't you like that?"

  
Haru merely continued sliding lower and lower into the tub, until his head was completely submerged and he didn't have to listen to Rin's ridiculous ideas anymore. He tried to ignore the way the skin of Rin's wet shins was practically glued to his own. They'd seen each other naked plenty of times at the swim club, or while changing for gym class at school, and Haruka wasn't the type to be embarrassed by nudity _or_ Rin's proximity... but wasn't there a limit to the kind of things you could do with your teammates at their age—one that they were definitely close to reaching?

  
Why had he ever allowed Rin to talk him into this...? Give Rin an inch and he'd take a mile—hadn't Haruka learned that particular lesson very well by now? _Honestly._

  
Unfortunately, he eventually had to come up for air. Rin arched an unimpressed eyebrow up at him as soon as he did, wordlessly handing over the bottle of shampoo. Haruka squeezed some of the liquid out into his palm, before handing it back to Rin. They managed to wash their hair without further incident. It was nothing short of a miracle.

  
"Your toenails are pressing into my butt." Haruka complained loudly. "Stop that!"

  
"You're such a nag, Haru." Rin didn't miss a beat. "It's all in the name of team bonding! Shut up and take it like a man!"

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

  
The rest of the day went by without a hitch. Much to Haruka's relief, he discovered that Rin made for pretty decent company as long as he refrained from insisting on shared baths. He was pretty certain they were both having fun.

  
Except no matter how hard Haruka had tried, he hadn't fully been able to shake his apprehension about taking Rin up to his room. It had preoccupied his thoughts all throughout dinner, to the point where he was genuinely worried Rin would notice his rapidly plummeting mood any moment. It was a stupid thing to get hung up over in the first place—it wasn't like Rin hadn't been up to his room before. Were things really _that_ different between them now he'd seen Rin's stone?

  
They were, weren't they? They had to be. Rin had yet to bring it up again, but Haruka couldn't imagine him keeping quiet about it for much longer. If Haruka had been in Rin's shoes, he thought, he'd have wanted to have his show of trust and camaraderie returned by now. Sure, some kids their age wore their Heart Stones proudly around their necks—but Rin wasn't like that. It hadn't been a meaningless gesture to him, Haruka was certain of that.

  
He just wasn't certain if he was ready to reciprocate. Haruka had never voluntarily shown his stone to anyone outside of his immediate family (and his best friend), after all. It wasn't something he'd ever wanted to share with anyone before.

  
"What are you frowning about over there?"

  
Rin's voice interrupted his thoughts so unexpectedly that Haruka nearly flinched, feeling a little bit like he'd been caught thinking about things he shouldn't have been.

  
"It's nothing." Haruka forced out, avoiding Rin's curious gaze by pushing himself up from the floor and quickly heading for the exit. "Let's go up to my room. I'll roll out the futon for you."

  
Rin trailed after him without complaint, sticking uncomfortably close to his heels. "I forgot to bring my pillow."

  
"We've got spare ones." Haruka replied automatically, sliding open the door to his room. He _tried_ not to let the way Rin immediately dived onto his bed bother him. He really did.

  
"Can't I just sleep here with you, Haru?" Rin whined, hiding his face in Haruka's pillow. "Your bed's large enough for the whole team to sleep in!"

  
"What does that have to do with your pillow?"

  
"I sleep badly without it." Rin muttered, visibly clutching Haruka's even tighter. "I'd get to sleep a lot faster in your bed."

  
"Whatever." Haruka sighed. He'd run out of energy to come up with a decent protest a long time ago. "You can have the bed."

  
Rin groaned loudly. That was the only warning Haruka received before a pillow hit him squarely in the stomach.

  
"Just get in here with me." Rin chuckled, patting the mattress invitingly while Haruka glared daggers at him. "Consider it more bonding."

  
If sharing the bed meant Rin would shut up and go to sleep sooner, Haruka was all for it. At this point, he'd probably accept any method to postpone the inevitable questions about the small wooden box Haruka kept on his desk. "Fine. I'm turning the lights off."

  
He made sure to aim his pillow right at Rin's face before he did, though.

  
"You're such a brat, Nanase."

  
Haruka blindly made his way over to the bed, carefully crawling in next to Rin—who appeared to be trying to make himself comfortable on top of the pillow Haruka had launched at him a moment ago, while simultaneously leaving enough room for Haruka to rest his head on it as well.

  
"Go to sleep." Haruka whispered, pulling up the covers around their shoulders. "I want to make it to the pool before it gets too crowded."

  
"You don't have to tell _me_ that." Rin muttered quietly. "Idiot."

  
Haruka willed himself to relax, closing his eyes and listening to the rhythmic sound of Rin's slow and steady breathing. It was oddly comforting.

  
Why had he spent the entire evening bracing himself for a barrage of questions he'd be unable to answer—dreading the unavoidable moment he'd have to attempt to explain that his Heart Stone was _different_? He should've known that this was the one area where Rin wouldn't dare push him out of his comfort zone. He should have trusted Rin, of all people, to understand how Haruka felt when it came to these kind of things.

  
The water didn't care what anyone's stone looked like. Then, why should Rin?

  
Tightly holding on to that thought and the warm presence at his side, Haruka found sleep surprisingly easily.

 


	2. We're Even

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rin's second day at the Nanase household passes by a little more smoothly than the first, much to everyone's relief.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I couldn't contain my excitement to get the 2nd chapter up, so here it is! x'D 
> 
> Don't expect the next update to come equally quickly, though. I didn't have plans today, so I spent the majority of the day writing & editing this. The next instalment will definitely take a little longer...

  
_"It might be best if you don't show anyone other than Makoto-kun for now." His mother told him regretfully, her worried eyes seeking out his underneath his bangs. "The other kids won't understand."_

  
_"Is something wrong with it?" He asked quietly, starting to feel something unsettling creeping in low in his stomach. What if his was broken? He'd never heard about anyone getting a new one before. He didn't think he wanted a replacement—_

  
_"That's not it!" She assured him, squeezing his hands tightly in her own much larger ones. "It's beautiful, Haruka. Don't you doubt that for a second."_

  
_"I don't get it..."_

  
_"You will soon." His mother reassured him quickly. "I don't have time to explain right now, dear. I'm almost late for work. Why don't you wait for your father to come home and talk to him about it instead?"  
_

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

  
Haruka didn't bother waiting for Rin to catch up before diving in, forgoing the starting blocks all together in favour of jumping in from the side of the short course pool with a satisfying splash. He didn't have to—Rin was hot on his heels; following Haruka into the previously empty 5th lane with an explosion of bubbles that tickled Haruka's toes and spurred him on, urging him to increase the speed of his strokes.

  
He stopped breathing on every other stroke, instead coming up for air only when he really needed it. Haruka reached the wall in no time at all, executing a rather wobbly flip-turn in order to avoid barrelling straight into a fast approaching Rin. They made eye contact just as Haruka was about to unbend his knees and push off from the ceramic tiles. Rin was smiling under water as he drew nearer, allowing Haruka to catch a quick glimpse of his excited expression before tucking his chin in and propelling himself forward into what Haruka was certain would be an irritatingly perfect tumble.

  
Wondering distantly if Rin had gotten any water up his nose in his effort to show off, Haruka smoothly transitioned out of his usual series of dolphin kicks. He slowed down just a little bit, allowing Rin to catch up and swim alongside him—they'd have a better chance of avoiding a collision at the next turn, that way. Rin effortlessly kept pace with him, veering rather precariously close to the lane divider for a second before he quickly adjusted his course accordingly.

  
When they drew nearer to the wall at the other end of the pool, they awkwardly negotiated their way through their respective turns as they tried to stay out of each others way without losing too much speed or messing up the timing so badly they'd have to come up for air. Rin appeared to be laughing as they both stretched out their legs to begin their dolphin kicks—at _exactly_ the same time—if the uneven trail of bubbles escaping from his mouth was anything to go by.

  
Eventually they grew more accustomed to dividing the available 2,5 meters of lane #5 between them in this new, and admittedly surprisingly enjoyable, way. They'd shared this exact lane plenty of times in the past, of course, but Rin had never been neck and neck with him like this before. Someone, usually Coach Sasabe (or a long suffering Makoto), had always been there to make sure they'd uphold a safe distance in the water—Haruka was used to rolling into his turn on one end of the pool while his lane partner did the same at the other end, roughly mirroring each others moves at the outer edges and only ever crossing paths in the middle of the pool. What they were doing now was childish, possibly even a little dangerous, but Haruka couldn't deny that he was enjoying it.

  
He liked swimming with Rin this way. He wanted to _keep_ swimming with Rin. Couldn't Rin prepare for the Olympics here in Japan? Haruka wouldn't mind helping him out with his training once in a while.

  
Attempting to shake those unsettling thoughts from his mind, Haruka forced his body to propel him through the water even faster. Rin may have been focusing on his butterfly technique these days, but evidently his front crawl hadn't suffered any neglect—because he easily matched Haruka stroke for stroke. If he'd been surprised by the change of pace, he certainly didn't show it. Haruka could _feel_ Rin's energy prickling at his shoulder blades and the back of his neck as they both sped up, making his skin feel tight and uncomfortably hot.

  
They continued swimming like that for a long time. Finishing lap after lap at an impressive pace, until the pool inevitably became too crowded for them to continue hogging an entire lane to themselves.

  
"That was great!" Rin sighed contently, pulling his swim cap and goggles off while he hooked a confident arm over the slightly raised tiles at the edge of the pool. "I can't believe I lost count after we hit the 15th lap, though! How much d'you reckon we did?"

  
"Not sure." Haruka told him, feeling embarrassingly out of breath as he pushed himself up and out of the water. "2150 meters, I think."

  
"In record time, too." Rin grinned, nodding his chin at the clock on the wall above the lifeguard station. "Hey, d'you want to practice our exchange next?"

  
This time, Haruka did wait for Rin as he made his way to the starting block. The lady in lane #3 looked like she might not mind two teenagers occupying the deep half of the pool while she practised her aqua-gym moves in the shallow end.

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

  
They ended up spending the better part of the day at the pool, lingering in the water until the lifeguard eventually chased them off—and ordered them to go have lunch before they passed out. He had threatened to fetch a net or use the long stick on them if he had to, much to Rin's entertainment. They'd hurriedly gotten dressed in the individual stalls rather than use the more familiar group changing room (because it was already occupied by a group of noisy preschoolers and their parents). Rin hadn't stopped talking the entire time, loudly challenging Haruka to an impromptu race to see who could get changed the fastest. The winner would get first dibs at the only hair-dryer the two of them could reach without having to stand up on their tip-toes.

  
Haruka won, of course.

  
They ran all the way home. By the time they made it to the bottom of the stone steps, both of them were panting and their cheeks were flushed with exertion—and in Rin's case, probably exhilaration as well. Skidding to a halt at the foot of the hill by some unspoken agreement, Rin placed both of his hands on his knees to catch his breath as he threw Haruka an unreadable look.

  
"Race you there?"

  
Haruka didn't have enough breath to reply. He settled for simply taking off again—leaving a spluttering Rin in his wake.

  
They crashed through the sliding door and into the genkan at roughly the same time, much to Haruka's annoyance. Shouldn't he have had the advantage? He climbed those steps _every day_.

  
No matter, he'd win their next competition. Whatever it turned out to be.

  
Rin dived underneath the kotatsu as soon as he'd removed his coat and shoes, switching on the heater and curling up under the heavy blanket without so much as a by-your-leave. Haruka glared at him as he headed into the kitchen to prepare lunch.

  
"I'm making omurice!" He called out, nose deep in the refrigerator. "Where did you put the left-over rice?"

  
"It's on the bottom shelf!"

  
Haruka frowned. That's _not_ where it should go, at all.

  
He sighed to himself, retrieving the bottle of ketchup and a couple of eggs from the side compartment in the fridge before placing them on top of the bowl of left-over rice he'd already been holding, and carefully shuffled over to the counter.

  
His mood lifted as he poured oil into a pan and focused on stir-frying the rice. Cooking wasn't as interesting as swimming was, but Haruka enjoyed the way it soothed him regardless. Soon the smell of fried rice and ketchup filled the air—prompting Rin to shout a string of compliments from the other room (which Haruka pointedly ignored). He divided the rice over two plates as equally as he could, wanting to avoid Rin complaining about getting a smaller portion at all costs, before quickly scrambling the eggs and draping them on top.

  
"Move over a bit." Haruka ordered as he carried their lunch, along with two cups of barley tea, into the sitting room on a tray. He nudged Rin's thigh with his foot as soon as he'd carefully made it over to the table. "This is heavy."

  
Rin seemed surprised that Haruka wanted to sit next to him rather than across the table as usual, but he didn't comment on it. He helped Haruka place the tray down and quickly scooted over to give Haruka enough room to crawl underneath the blanket with him, going as far as to hold up the edge for him in invitation.

  
"This looks amazing!" Rin exclaimed, excitedly reaching out for a spoon the minute Haruka had settled down next to him. "How come you know how to cook so well?"

  
"My mother taught me everything." Haruka mumbled, looking down at his food so he wouldn't have to look at Rin's curious face. "I got tired of microwaveable meals."

  
"She's not home often, is she?" Rin asked around a mouth full of omelet. "Sounds like mine. Except, I don't know how to cook at all..."

  
"What about your sister?"

  
"Gou? She's a horrible cook! She can't even make cookies without burning them."

  
Haruka chuckled in spite of himself. Rin sounded so fond whenever he spoke of his little sister. It was clear that he loved her dearly, despite his harsh words about her cooking abilities. Haruka vaguely wondered what it'd be like to have a sibling of his own to look after, then decided he probably wouldn't like it very much.

  
A comfortable silence settled over them while they finished their meals. Haruka found that he didn't want to get up, but _somebody_ would have to do the dishes before the left over grains of rice and ketchup started drying up and sticking to the surface of the plates. Fortunately, Rin beat him to it. Haruka gratefully watched him drag himself up from his comfortable spot at the kotatsu to carry the tray back into the kitchen.

  
Once Rin had disappeared into the other room, Haruka lazily reached out for the GameBoy case near the table. Which game would Rin like to play? He should probably pick the one Rin liked best—to reward him for doing the dishes.

  
It wasn't long at all before Rin was crawling back inside the warm fort of the kotatsu, pressing the entire length of his body up against Haruka's in order to peer at the screen of the console more easily. Haruka chose to ignore him in favour of finishing a new level of _Tetris_. It was uncomfortably warm with both of them huddled so close together under the heavy blanket, but Haruka didn't complain. There was something oddly comforting about the way Rin's shoulder was steadily pushing into his own, even though Rin's hair occasionally tickling the side of his face and neck did distract him a little bit.

  
"Try and beat that." Haruka told him, handing over the GameBoy after beating the level and saving the game.

  
"I plan to!" Rin retorted, knocking their elbows together as he accepted control over the console. "Man, I love this game. Can I borrow it sometime?"

  
"As long as you give it back before you leave." _For Australia._

  
The words were out of Haruka's mouth before he could stop them. He quickly turned his face away from the screen—and Rin's heavy gaze.

  
"I will."

  
That was all Rin said in reply. Haruka frowned as Rin returned his attention back to the game, easily breaking the tension between them by turning up the volume and pressing his shoulder into Haruka's just a little harder than before. His words had been simple enough, but Haruka got the feeling he was missing some underlying meaning and it irritated him that he couldn't place his finger on it.

  
They continued playing games until the battery of the GameBoy ran out, and it was already time to get started on making dinner. Rin helped out this time, easily falling into what was quickly becoming a routine for them as he prepared the rice while Haruka dealt with frying the two perfect looking fillets of mackerel they'd picked up on their way back from the swimming pool. Haruka heard him flick on the switch of the rice cooker a few seconds before slowly becoming aware of Rin's presence looming over him. Did Rin really have to stand _so close_ to him the whole time? It was very distracting. Haruka valiantly tried to ignore the way Rin was eagerly breathing down the back of his neck while he concentrated on not burning the fish—but Rin was making it very hard.

  
"Do you mind?" Haruka complained, digging his elbow into Rin's unprotected ribs in order to get the little brat to give him some more room.

  
"Sorry!" Rin chuckled, easily jumping out of the way. "It's fun watching you cook."

  
"You're distracting me." Haruka sighed, refusing to give in to the urge to turn around and glare at Rin. "Go watch from over there, if you like it so much."

  
"D'you like cooking?"

  
Haruka hadn't seen that question coming. He mulled it over for a little while before answering: "I guess so."

  
"Was it easy to learn?" Rin asked him, cooperatively putting a little more distance between them by moving over to lean against the refrigerator. "It _looks_ hard."

  
"It depends." Haruka answered. When was Rin going to give up on involving him in all this meaningless small talk? "The recipes are difficult to remember sometimes. I can only make simple stuff."

  
Rin was nodding along, as if he had any idea what they were talking about. "Can you teach me how to make omurice sometime? I want to make it for Gou, and write something silly on top in ketchup—she'd love that!"

  
"You should've helped me make it earlier, in that case."

  
"Don't be like that, Haru... I didn't know it'd taste _that_ good!"

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

  
Haruka watched with nervous anticipation as Rin guardedly dragged his overnight bag over to the bed. They'd already changed into their pyjamas, brushed their teeth, used the bathroom... he was fresh out of excuses to escape Rin's solemn gaze. Couldn't Rin tell that he didn't want to talk about this? They'd been doing so well yesterday.

  
"Yours is on your desk, right?" Rin asked him quietly as he seated himself next to Haruka on the mattress. "In that wooden box."

  
Haruka nodded, wondering if Rin would take the hint and give up if he simply rolled over and faced the wall.

  
"I brought mine with me." Rin started, despite Haruka's best efforts to will him into silence. "Do you want to look at it again?"

  
"But—"

  
"You don't have to show me yours or anything." Rin interrupted him, the beginnings of a frown starting to show on his face. "I don't care about that."

  
"You're lying." Haruka was frowning now, too. Did Rin really expect him to believe that?

  
"Ugh! I didn't mean it like _that_..." Rin ran a frustrated hand through his hair, jostling an already disgruntled Haruka with the wild movements of his arm. "I don't know how to explain it, you idiot."

  
"Fine."

  
"It's not fine!" Rin hissed, startling both of them. He kept silent for a while after his outburst, clearly attempting to swallow the worst of his anger, before he eventually continued more calmly: "I can tell it's bothering you."

  
Haruka released the breath he hadn't realised he'd been holding. "That's not your fault."

  
"It isn't?" Rin asked, unable to hide the surprise in his voice. The sound of it hit Haruka where it hurt, just a little bit—because he'd never meant to make Rin think that it was.

  
"I don't know how to explain either."

  
Rin laughed then, incidentally breaking some of the rising tension between them. "That means we're even, then."

  
But they weren't, were they? He'd been offered a look at Rin's precious Heart Stone for the second time, and yet here he was... making a far bigger deal out of it than necessary simply because he couldn't promise reciprocation—not any time soon, at least. Fortunately, Rin appeared more than willing to let their earlier argument slide off his shoulders like the shedding of a coat. Haruka reluctantly followed his lead, watching with bated breath as Rin opened the zipper of his bag.

  
"You don't _have_ to, you know?" Rin muttered, fishing out the familiar lacquered box from in between his spare set of clothing. "I just thought you might want to, that's all. You looked pretty curious about it before."

  
It would've been pointless to deny that, so Haruka remained silent as Rin handed him the box.  It was round, fitting perfectly in the palm of Haruka's hand, and had a very deep brown colour. It was decorated with gold embellishments—the scenery painted on top of the lid depicted typical winter and early spring imagery: various evergreens, chrysanthemums, wisteria, plum and cherry blossoms. Haruka figured the symbolism of it must be loosely linked to Rin's birthday in February somehow.

  
"Antique?" He asked, fingering the golden clasp at the front.

  
Rin nodded. "Yours is too, right?"

  
"Hn." Haruka allowed, feeling uncomfortable now the focus was back on his own stone rather than Rin's. "It's been in my family for a while. It wasn't originally used as a container, but I like it."

  
"It looks fancy." Rin agreed, reaching over to flick open the clasp for Haruka when he'd clearly run out of patience. "Not as fancy as mine, though. Even if it isn't a heirloom."

  
Haruka snorted, slowly opening the lid of the box to reveal Rin's star shaped Heart Stone resting neatly in the middle of the golden velvet padding inside. He hadn't realised he'd actually _wanted_ to see it again—not until he was looking right at it.

  
It felt different the second time around; more intimate. Although that may have had something to do with the way Rin was practically sitting in his lap, his breath warm and comforting against Haruka's cheek as he quietly watched Haruka's every move with wide and eager eyes.

  
"It's brighter than before." Haruka noted, cautiously running a finger along the edge of the box. The colours were no longer subdued. If it had reminded Haruka of the ocean on a stormy day the first time he'd seen it, it now resembled the unnaturally perfect aquamarine waters of a swimming pool instead.

  
"Yeah." Rin shrugged. "It does that."

  
"Mine doesn't."

  
It had been barely louder than a whisper, but Haruka knew Rin had heard him perfectly; it was obvious from the way Rin's steady breathing, ruffling Haruka's hair with each exhale, halted for just a split-second—before he forced it out shakily, and swallowed audibly.

  
"Oh." Whatever Rin had been expecting, it clearly hadn't been this. He floundered visibly, before finally managing to shake off his surprise with a solemn: "Some stones are more active than others, I guess..."

  
Haruka avoided Rin's calculating gaze by continuing to study the faintly shining gem in his hands. He wasn't sure he'd have been able to look away even if he'd wanted to. Rin's Heart Stone was beautiful. None of the ones he'd caught glimpses of before had looked even remotely like this—not even his mother's, whose rose petal shaped stone (kept safely tucked away in a silver container inside his father's bedside drawer whenever he was in town) had always been the most appealing to look at, in Haruka's opinion.

  
His fingers twitched around the box as Rin leant in closer to trace a fingertip over the centre of his Heart Stone. The swirl of watery colours parted underneath the loving touch—almost as if they wanted to avoid being tickled by it. Haruka could've sworn the stone glowed just a shade brighter.

  
If Rin thought it was odd that Haruka seemed so enraptured by the stone's faint activity, he thankfully didn't comment on it. Haruka had already said as much as he'd wanted to on the subject of his own stone.

  
"Isn't it strange how they turn to dust when you die?" Rin wondered, removing the stone to hold it up against the light. "I wish I could remember what my dad's looked like."

  
Haruka followed his gaze, admiring the way the light of the traditional Japanese fixture on the ceiling reflected faintly off of the surface of the stone like it was made out of delicately spun glass. "Can't you ask your mother?"

  
"Nah..." Rin sighed. "It'd upset her too much to talk about it, I think. She'd been holding it when it crumbled."

  
"I'm sorry." Haruka quickly offered, feeling absolutely horrible about his thoughtless comment. He personally didn't find the stones all that important—their _owners_ were what really mattered to Haruka—but Rin clearly disagreed. Haruka respected that.

  
"You didn't know." Rin shrugged, shrugging easily as he passed the stone to an increasingly uncomfortable Haruka.

  
"I can't imagine what that'd feel like." Haruka whispered, hesitantly accepting it. Its weight felt strange in his slightly sweaty hands. He knew it wasn't as fragile as it looked, considering Heart Stones were virtually impossible to break beyond repair while the owner was still alive, but he couldn't help but want to handle it a little more carefully than strictly required. Rin wouldn't appreciate it if he damaged it, after all.

  
"I never want to find out." Rin agreed, watching closely as Haruka ran a curious finger along the tip of one of the star's five points; cautiously exploring its smooth surface with one hand while securely holding it in the palm of his other. " _Ever_."

  
As expected, the gently rolling waves underneath the surface didn't react to Haruka's touch—it seemed they only responded to their owner's. "It'd be nice if you could keep them as a memorial."

  
"Right. I'd have wanted my dad's to be put on display at his shrine, if things like that were possible. Next to his picture, you know?"

  
Haruka hummed in assent, placing Rin's Heart Stone back in its box to signal the end of his indulgent exploration. He didn't want to hold it too long, for fear that he might start comparing it with his own. He'd promised himself, a few years ago when he'd first realised there was something different about his Heart Strone, that he'd never look at it with disappointment in his eyes. It was what it was, and there was nothing Haruka could do to change that. He had accepted that a long time ago, hadn't he?

  
Perhaps one day he'd find someone to entrust it to, someone who'd be able to appreciate it more than he could himself, but until then it was his responsibility. No matter how much of a nuisance he found it to be, Haruka would never dare neglect it or entertain the thought of getting rid of it all together—despite the fact that he'd come very close to wanting to do just that in the past. It belonged to him. He'd practically been _born_ with it; the way he'd been born with his talent for swimming, and his fondness for doodling on every little scrap of paper he could get his hands on. It was something that was uniquely his own.

  
He hated what the Heart Stones represented, and how preoccupied everyone around him seemed to be with them, but he'd never be able to truly hate the objects themselves. Least of all his own.

  
"Let's get some sleep."

  
Clearly sensing the shift in Haruka's mood, Rin readily agreed. He replaced the small lacquered box at the bottom of his bag and lowered it down next to the headboard, while Haruka bodily hauled himself up and over Rin to climb out of the bed. Rin grunted in protest as Haruka's knee knocked into a rather sensitive part of his anatomy.

  
"Ow!" Rin complained. "I'd have gone to turn off the lights if you'd only _asked_ me to, you jerk!"

  
"I would've had to get up to get under the covers either way." Haruka retorted testily, walking over to the light switch on the tips of his toes to avoid having to make too much contact with the cold floor.

  
The atmosphere, which had felt rather heavy before, felt significantly lighter now that Haruka had turned off the lights. He quickly crawled in under the covers after Rin, distractedly noting that he hadn't even brought up the possibility of rolling out the futon this time around, and sighed contently as soon as his head hit the pillow.

  
"Goodnight, Haru." Rin whispered, searching for Haruka's nearest hand underneath the covers. "Thanks for letting me stay over. There's no way we won't kick some serious ass with our perfect exchange soon!"

  
Haruka let Rin link their fingers together, using his free arm to set the alarm on the dolphin shaped clock on top of his headboard to ensure they'd make it to school on time in the morning. "Night."

  
The warmth of Rin's palm pressed flush against his own, and the sound of Rin's steady breathing, lulled him to sleep in no time at all.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wooh! The plot is finally starting to move forward a little, isn't it? Please let me know what you think~! (Poor Rin. He really doesn't have a clue, does he? He's completely unaware of the minefield he's stepping on every time he brings up the Heart Stones... xDD)
> 
> ETA: It's hard writing this without slipping up and having Haruka say Rin's name, to be honest. I wonder if that doesn't come across as a bit strange? But at this point, according to High Speed! canon at least, he hasn't started explicitly calling Rin "Rin" yet. While this/is/ an AU, I do kind of want to stick to canon as much as possible. X.x; (I still can't believe the Rin & Haruka Duet CD provided us with CANON BED SHARING ohmygod. I need flashbacks of this to happen in the show so badly. Or maybe an OVA? Even a FrFr will do.)


	3. Finding Treasures

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Haruka finds something unexpected at the bottom of his Iwatobi S.C. messenger bag.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry about the wait, you guys! I got a little distracted by writing airplane (and, uh, airport?) smut. :'D
> 
> This chapter is pretty short, b-but I wanted to end it there... because of reasons. You'll see.

  
_"There you are, Haru-chan!"_

  
_Haruka looked up in surprise from where he'd been playing with his new set of crayons, comfortably seated on the raised porch in the backyard, as Makoto came barrelling straight at him. They stared at each other for a moment, both sets of eyes wide despite the glare of the sun, before Makoto eagerly jumped up on the wooden beams next to him. "What is it, Makoto?"_

  
_When Makoto didn't sit down immediately, Haruka reluctantly placed the yellow crayon he'd been holding down next to his drawing and sat up just a little straighter. He'd hardly ever seen his friend look like this before—Makoto was practically bouncing in his excitement, suspiciously holding both of his arms behind his back like he was hiding something. A treasure, perhaps?_

  
_"Look!"_

  
_Haruka's eyes gradually widened even more, much further than they had before, as he studied the object Makoto proudly presented to him: it was Makoto's Heart Stone, Haruka had seen it enough times now to be absolutely certain about that, but it didn't quite look the way it usually did._

  
_Oh..._

  
_Makoto's bright smile faltered when Haruka failed to return his enthusiasm, and an unfamiliar tension began to settle over them. His best friend had clearly been delighted at the prospect of showing this to him, to be sharing this discovery with him, and now Haruka was letting him down by remaining visibly unaffected. He had to do something, say something, and quick. Before he involuntarily hurt Makoto's feelings. "When did it start?"_

  
_"Just now!" Makoto exclaimed, easily accepting the lifeline Haruka was throwing him without missing a beat. "I rushed over as soon as I noticed! Isn't it neat?"_

  
_It was. Makoto's Heart Stone, which had always had a gentle creamy shade like an antique ivory statue, now showed the beginnings of an entirely different colour lurking just underneath the surface. Haruka squinted, leaning a little closer to make out the details in the harsh light of the afternoon sun._

  
_"It looks like a seedling." Haruka noted, raising his eyes to meet Makoto's. It was too late now to wonder if that had been the right thing to say.  
_

  
_"You think so too, Haru-chan?" Makoto asked with a hopeful grin on his face. "I can't wait for it to finish!"_

  
_Haruka nodded, once more peering down at the narrow, long oval gem in Makoto's hands. The small burst of colour at its centre reminded him of fresh leaves at the start of spring—or a comforting cup of green tea. Perhaps more importantly... it was obviously only beginning to grow.  
_

  
_Much like the apprehension, and an unsettling insecurity, slowly unfurling somewhere deep within Haruka's heart._

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

   
Sliding the front door shut behind him with a relieved sigh, Haruka wearily allowed his _Iwatobi S.C._ messenger bag to drop to the floor with a thunk before removing his shoes and making his way upstairs to process the events of the day in the privacy of his bedroom.

  
They had finally become a real team today—the very _best_ team, even, according to an embarrassingly tearful Rin.

  
Rin had called them the best teammates he could've ever asked for. He'd said that, hadn't he? So then why... w _hy couldn't Rin stay with them?_

  
Why did they need to say goodbye now that they'd just gotten a taste of everything they'd be able to do together, if they only set their minds to it? They had won by a landslide—they'd even set a tournament record. Wasn't this where everything was only supposed to _begin_? Was Rin, who cared so much about times and winning, truly satisfied with leaving things like this? Would he really be able to just up and leave, and find a new set of teammates? Hadn't Haruka been—

  
No. He refused to allow his thoughts to go down that path. Rin had been clear about his desire to go to Australia and follow his dream. Haruka shouldn't feel anything other than happiness for him—wanting Rin to stay in Iwatobi with them was a shamefully selfish wish.

  
Haruka would be fine. He'd still have Makoto and Nagisa with him, and Rin would surely return to them one day. There was no doubt in Haruka's mind that Makoto would always be there with him, he simply couldn't imagine it being any other way—and a mischievous Nagisa had become a surprisingly important presence in their lives as well, while Haruka had forgotten to pay attention. It had been Nagisa who had showed Haruka it was all right to just be himself, and in doing so had helped Haruka find his way out of the darkness that had trapped him, after all. All Haruka needed to do now was believe in Rin's abilities, and trust that their friendship would be strong enough to survive the daunting distance between them.

  
That's why they'd buried their trophy beneath the camellia tree in the little garden behind the swim club as a symbol of their friendship, wasn't it?  Rin _would_ come back.

  
_For the team._

  
Haruka would be patient. He'd keep swimming the way he always did, striving to improve his connection to the water, until Rin reappeared to challenge him to another race. Then they'd be neck and neck again, side by side in their respective lanes, and Haruka would show Rin that he hadn't lagged behind or slacked off in the time they'd spent apart.

  
Today had been such a whirlpool of emotion, good ones and bad ones, and tomorrow—well, tomorrow Rin would be gone. Haruka had never expected to grow so fond of the boy who had once irritated him so much. He'd been able to see it coming quite clearly in the end, of course, and he'd meant to renew his struggles then—but giving in had been _so much easier_. It would've been even more troublesome to keep resisting, wouldn't it?

  
In hindsight, Haruka had never stood a chance. Rin would forever be a part of his life now, whether he liked it or not.

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

  
Haruka tossed and turned underneath the covers, occasionally throwing irritated looks up at his alarm clock, as he futilely tried to chase the buzzing thoughts in his head away. He'd woken up at five thirty-three in the morning, and now he couldn't stop going over all of the previous day's revelations. Getting back to sleep seemed like an impossible task.

  
He just couldn't seem to get the image of Rin's face out of his mind: how he'd looked when he had cautiously opened up to them about his reason for transferring to Iwatobi so late in the school year, his ecstatic grin as he proudly held up their trophy for a picture, the way his eyes had widened and filled with tears as he stared at the image of his father's relay team—on the wall at the swim club, after they'd accidentally discovered his old lunch box buried underneath the camellias.

  
Haruka had to admit he'd been surprised when Rin had even told them a little more about his friends at Sano S.C., going as far as to explain how he felt about Yamzaki at Nagisa's curious prodding. And then he'd called Haruka _amazing._

  
But Haruka hadn't felt amazing. He'd been throwing everyone off of their game for days, fighting with the water in a way he never had before—because he'd never cared about his times or his technique before Rin showed up in his life. Up until recently, Haruka had never even considered swimming as something fun. It had only ever been a necessity, a way to dive into the save harbour he'd found in the comfortingly cool touch of the water when Makoto had convinced him to join the swim club together.

  
He knew better than to blindly rely on that now, though.

  
Even so, there was no denying one fact: if it weren't for Nagisa stubbornly breaking through Haruka's mental walls and pulling him out of his self-inflicted downward spiral, they probably wouldn't even have made it through the semi-finals at all. The thought that Haruka had nearly caused all of them to miss out out on seeing that sight, the sight Rin had so brazenly promised to show them only a handful of weeks ago, unsettled him more than he'd like to admit.

  
Haruka sighed, slipping one of his bare feet out from underneath the covers to test the room's temperature—as expected, the air that hit his curious toes was uncomfortably chilly. Making his way downstairs, and into the safety of the kotatsu, in nothing but his flimsy pyjamas was going to be _such_ a pain.

  
There was nothing for it, however. There was simply no way he'd be able to get back to sleep any time soon.

  
Bracing himself against the cold, Haruka reluctantly slid out from under the covers and grudgingly headed down to the main room. Once there, he flicked the light switch with a yawn before burying himself underneath the heavy blanket of the kotatsu. It hadn't even been turned on yet, but the familiar action already helped sooth Haruka's over-active mind. It was easier to shake off all of the unnecessary thoughts plaguing him in here; just as long as he didn't look at the GameBoy case on top of the table for too long, because that'd only remind him of the game Rin never bothered returning to him before—

_  
Stop!_

  
How long would he have to put up with these infuriating thoughts invading every nook and cranny of his brain? It needed to stop. And soon, before _everything_ in Haruka's house began reminding him of the time Rin had spent there. Clenching his fists in frustration, Haruka shook his head to dispel the blurry image of Rin smiling brightly at him from the other side of the table as he unrepentantly attempted to beat all of Haruka's previously set High Scores.

  
Rin was gone now—he had probably landed in Australia hours ago. It was high time for Haruka to learn to accept the fact that he probably wasn't going to see his... _his_ _friend_... for a long time. Suddenly, he was no longer feeling quite as cold as before. His face felt uncomfortably hot, his chest too tight, and his eyes were burning.

  
Absolutely refusing to be reduced to such a state over something as ridiculous as missing a friend's presence, Haruka pushed himself back upright and reached for the black cord peeking out from under the blanket next to him. He blindly followed its path, fingers skating over the tatami floor, in search of the small switch hiding underneath the table. He used it to turn on the electric heater with another yawn, an embarrassingly wide one this time, and then crossed his arms across the wooden table top as he waited for his emergency sanctuary to warm up his lower body even more than his errant emotions had.

  
Staring at the wall in front of him got old really fast, however. Perhaps he should go fetch a book to read in the meantime—just until the public pool opened up for early bird swimmers? Like that one about various aquatic life forms that Makoto had left behind in the genkan, when he'd rushed over to pick Haruka up for the tournament yesterday morning.

  
That's when Haruka remembered: the _Iwatobi S.C._ messenger bag he'd carelessly abandoned next to his shoes before immediately heading up to his bedroom the previous evening. He groaned, low under his breath, already regretting simply leaving it there overnight—he wasn't looking forward to dealing with the damp swimsuit inside, hurriedly rolled up in a towel after their victorious relay and undoubtedly already starting to reek of stale chlorine, nor the mess he'd probably made of his latex swim cap by stuffing it in without taking the time to properly apply powder to the inside. The suit and towel he'd be able to salvage, but the swim cap would likely be ready for the trash can by now. No matter—he had plenty more where that one came from.

  
"Better get it over with...."

  
Mentally chastising himself for the way he'd discarded his belongings earlier, Haruka reluctantly crawled out from underneath the kotatsu. If he hung everything up to dry now, he'd hopefully be able to at least re-use his favourite swimsuit during his planned visit to the pool later that morning. He grudgingly fetched his messenger bag from the genkan and carried it into the bathroom, taking care to never allow his pleasantly warm feet to come in contact with the cold floor for too long by hurriedly walking there on his tip-toes.

  
Fighting back another yawn, Haruka quickly spread out the damp towel along the edge of the bath tub and placed his swimsuit next to it. He sighed to himself as he turned back to the other contents of the bag, sleepily reaching in a second time to retrieve the goggles and balled up swim cap from its bottom. Except, his hand didn't encounter soft rubber, plastic _or_ sticky latex—instead, his finger tips bumped into something hard and smooth.

  
_That's not supposed to be in there._

  
Frowning slightly, Haruka curled his fingers around the unexpected object and curiously fished it out of the bag. Dread crept into the back of his throat and caught on his breath as soon as he recognised what it was: a very familiar lacquered box, dark brown in colour and decorated with gold embellishments.

  
There was no doubt about it. Haruka was currently looking down at Rin's antique Heart Stone container as he stood there, barefooted in the middle of his bathroom at six in the morning, and hoped against hope that he was merely sleepwalking—that he'd wake up soon, and this would all turn out to be a horrible dream. Because he could tell, from the weight on the palm of his faintly trembling hand, that there was no way the box was empty.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DUDUDUUUUN. 
> 
> Rin, my dear, /what/ were you thinking...?! I really struggled with Haruka in this chapter. I worried that he was acting too affected by Rin's departure, but I figured he'd act very different in public than on his own - and he'll bounce back soon enough regardless. How's he going to deal with the little present Rin left behind for him to find, though? Hmmm...
> 
> LASTLY: Haruka's old GameBoy - I'm one of those weird kids who /still/ has their first one, you know, the bulky grey one. AND IT PROBABLY STILL WORKS. So I figured, Haruka wouldn't have the latest stuff because he's just not that interested in it. He probably got it as a hand-me-down from somebody who bought a DS? Let's just say it's a GameBoy advance but never explicitly stated (and Rin wants to borrow his games because they're ANCIENT lololol), OK? T___T! I'm sorry, I keep forgetting I'm 10 years older than these silly boys.


	4. Unexpected Guests

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aah! It's been a while since I last updated this - I'm so sorry. I got a little distracted by two other fanfics I'm working on (both of which are being beta'd as we speak & should be up soon!). 
> 
> Hopefully this chapter was worth the wait! I went back and edited the layout/style of the previous chapters a little bit to fit in better with the latest one, err, to make up for my absence and satisfy the raging perfectionist inside me. No content has been changed, though. Well, other than a typo here or there. ^^;
> 
> Just a heads-up: we're entering High Speed! 2 territory here. If you're unfamiliar with its canon, all you have to know for this part is that Haruka adopts a stray dog.

_"Still no change, Haru-chan?" Makoto asked hesitantly, fingering the silver hinge on his brand new container _ **—**_ it was vaguely shaped like the glasses case his father tended to carry around in his briefcase; oblong in shape, and made out of a smooth metal material. Inside, Haruka knew, Makoto's oval Heart Stone rested on a squishy foam-like padding. It couldn't have been more different from Haruka's own container if it tried; Makoto's family didn't have the money to waste on something custom-made, after all, and they'd ended up having to sell most of their heirlooms to afford refurbishing the study into the twins' bedroom when they'd inevitably gotten too old to share a room with Makoto. The ones they hadn't already sold to fund Makoto's tuition, that was. _

  
_Haruka knew about these things because Makoto's mother had carefully explained it to him_ _when she'd taken them shopping for a new container earlier that week. Makoto's previous one didn't close properly anymore after Ren had sent it flying through the room _during one of his customary tantrums—it had_ crashed into the wall with an alarmingly loud crack. The look on Makoto's face at the time had been a horrible thing to witness. Haruka had never seen him look that pale before; not even when Haruka's mother had come home unexpectedly in the middle of their sleepover a couple of weeks ago, and the creaking of the stairs had sent Makoto dashing out of his own futon and under Haruka's covers so fast Haruka hadn't known what hit him._

_  
Fortunately, Makoto's stone hadn't suffered any noticeable damage **—** and Ren had learned an unmistakably valuable lesson that day. Makoto's mother hadn't seemed angry; not when they'd reluctantly explained to her what had happened, nor when she'd taken her son and his best friend out to the mall the very next day. She'd seemed far too relieved that nothing worse had happened to feel any other emotions, like anger or disappointment. If Makoto's Heart Stone had actually been damaged... well, it would've taken close to a month for the cracks to heal completely. _

_  
They likely wouldn't have been caused by the blow to the wall, either._

_  
This was something that never failed to terrify Haruka, because how were you supposed to protect your stone from harm if it wasn't as simple as keeping it securely tucked away in a suitably sturdy container? Internal injuries were far more difficult to heal than external ones, after all _ **—**_ it was a rule that applied to all living creatures, and Heart Stones were no exception._

_  
"No." Haruka finally answered, eyes firmly locked on Makoto's hands where they nervously explored all sides of the metal box on the table. Neither of them particularly enjoyed discussing this subject anymore. "Nothing yet."_

_  
"My mother says it's because you're a late bloomer." Makoto offered uncertainly. "I don't know what that means, though."_

_  
Haruka didn't either. Perhaps he was like the bushes of goldenrod and chrysanthemums currently starting to appear all over town **—** he wouldn't have minded that, to be honest. He'd always thought the sturdy yellow flowers looked like fireworks, and mums never failed to turn the harsh fall weather into a colourful display. He knew better than to get his hopes up, though._

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

  
It wasn't empty.

  
There was a meticulously folded paper tucked neatly away on the inside, placed directly underneath the star shaped Heart Stone, and Haruka did not doubt for a second that Rin had put it there on purpose—knowing very well that in order to read the note, Haruka would have to remove or lift the stone first.

  
Haruka wasn't ready for that. He'd practically been told his entire life to _never_ touch another's stone without its owner present. What had Rin been thinking—no, really, what could he _possibly_ have been thinking?! Rin should've known better than to hide such an irreplaceable item underneath somebody's damp towel, as if he'd simply left a prank— _or_ _a love letter!_ —behind in one of the lockers at school. Most married couples didn't even entrust their Heart Stones to each other; that kind of exchange was only made on a very special occasion, like an anniversary or the discovery of a long-awaited pregnancy.

  
Rin _did_ know better that—and then he'd gone ahead and done it anyway, that insufferable idiot.

  
There was no way Haruka would ever be able to tell a single person about the object he'd found at the bottom of his _Iwatobi S.C._ bag. They'd make him put it in a cardboard box and mail it off to Australia the minute they found out, wouldn't they? Yes, that sounded about right. That was what any responsible adult would do in this situation _ **—**_ and what any responsible adult _should_ do in this situation. It wouldn't be fair to force Makoto—so very kind-hearted, and honest to a fault, as he was—to keep secrets from his parents either, so Haruka could not confide in his best friend about his discovery. This simply wasn't the kind of behaviour that was considered acceptable for teenage boys to engage in, and Rin would undoubtedly get horribly scolded by his mother if she ever found out—and his guardians would probably have a thing or two to say about it, too.

  
Haruka was angry, no, he was _livid_. He simply couldn't believe Rin would do something as reckless—and positively insane—as this, all the while selfishly putting both of them in such dangerous waters without a care in the world. Even so, Haruka didn't want to get Rin into trouble over something he clearly hadn't done maliciously. How could he, without knowing what kind of people Rin was staying with in Sydney? And he should probably read the message Rin had included before making any decisions, as well.

  
Because it was unmistakably clear that Rin had entrusted him with far more than simply the actual care of the Heart Stone—he'd expected Haruka to keep everything surrounding it a secret along with it. Now Haruka just needed to find out _why_.

  
Mentally steeling himself, Haruka slid off of his rather uncomfortable perch on the edge of the tub and made his way over to the sink. The antique container looked painfully out of place between his toothbrush and the dolphin mascot that all swim club members had recently received from Coach Sasabe for their continued patronage during the winter season, but Haruka honestly hadn't known where else to put it. In his defence: he'd at least managed to open it up on auto-pilot—mostly to confirm that Rin hadn't simply put something of equal weight inside of the round box as a ridiculously ill-advised prank, though—before the reality of the situation had caught up with him and he'd felt an urgent need to sit down.

  
It felt strange—and unquestionably _wrong_ —to be looking at Rin's Heart Stone in the harsh light of bathroom like this, of all places. He vaguely entertained the thought of carrying the whole thing out into the main room before proceeding any further, but if he closed its latch again now he likely wouldn't be able to talk himself into opening it again until long after he'd returned from his impending flight to the pool. It was best to get it over with now, as quickly as possible. Haruka was not a coward.

  
But he was all alone here, with nothing more than his own image reflected in the mirror hanging above the sink to keep him company. He tried paid it no mind, opting instead to focus on taking a fortifying breath before carefully working his fingertips underneath one of the starfish's five lightly curled arms. It lifted easily enough for him, allowing him to tug at one corner of the paper until he was able to slide it out from its snug spot between the stone and the velvet padding on the inside of the box with minimal fuss.

  
He had to fight the urge to cautiously glance around and make sure he wasn't being observed as soon as he'd retrieved what he'd needed, because if simply looking at Rin's stone had felt strange—then actually _touching it_ , sliding his fingers underneath it like Rin had been right there next to him, had felt... perhaps not quite _forbidden_ , because Rin had plainly intended for Haruka to be required to follow these exact steps in order to remove the message from the box, but something very close to it.

  
No, Haruka really shouldn't be doing these things _here_. He hurriedly shut the container, flicked the latch shut, and took a couple of uneven steps backwards until his calves hit the edge of the tub. Then he stared at the note in his hands for a tense moment, imagining all kinds of increasingly illogical explanations and scenarios, before determinedly unfolding it and smoothing the paper out over one of his thighs.

 

_**  
I wanted you to have this, because... well, it's just a hunch, you know? I kind of thought you'd like to have it around for a while. Don't take it the wrong way, though!**_

_**  
You'll keep it safe for me, won't you? You can give it back when I come home for Christmas! I'm going to kick your ass when I do, so you'd better prepare yourself.** _

_**  
P.S. This still doesn't mean you have to show me yours, or anything... so, uhm, don't freak out about that, OK? ~~I really don't care about that.~~ I mean, I do care, but, ugh, you get what I mean, right? I still don't really know how to explain it. Maybe it's because watching you swim kinda has the same effect, so I don't need to see your stone to know what's in your heart. That's what being nakama means, isn't it? We've got something way better!** _

_**— Rin** _

 

  
Haruka wanted to hurl the note across the room. He wanted to pretend Rin's message meant nothing to him, and that his messily scrawled words hadn't explained anything at all... but it did, and they had.

  
It explained everything. Rin hadn't done this for himself— _he'd done this for Haruka's sake._

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

  
In the end, Haruka had been left unable to pin the blame for this entire mess on anyone other than himself. Because it wouldn't have been fair to remain angry at Rin simply because the idiot had accidentally realised something about Haruka—possibly the one thing that Haruka had tried so desperately to keep hidden from him—and then had misguidedly tried to fix it, in the only way he knew how.

  
Perhaps if Haruka got rid of the note, he could tell his parents that Rin had accidentally left the box at the Nanase residence after their last sleepover—that way Rin would only get scolded for carelessly leaving it behind, right? But then again: wouldn't Rin's mother have asked him if he'd packed it, likely even more than once, the way she'd undoubtedly have done for his passport and plane ticket? She'd know right away that Rin had lied to her. He had probably allowed her to assume he'd taken it along to Australia, and would soon be telling his guardians there that he'd left behind it in Japan. Rin was nothing if not exasperatingly clever.

  
Haruka wasn't sure he liked the idea of sending such a valuable and unique item across the Pacific Ocean in nothing more than a flimsy cardboard box, either. What if it got damaged? Or worse— _lost_. It would be Haruka's fault, if that happened. Rin would never speak to him again. Not that Rin was likely to ever speak to him again even if the package arrived safely. Haruka suspected that it'd hurt Rin deeply if he were to wake up one morning and discover his Heart Stone had been returned to him; especially in such an impersonal way.

  
That meant Haruka would be keeping it hidden for the foreseeable future. He'd better find a place to store it safely, then.

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

  
"Ah!" Nagisa exclaimed excitedly as the two—well, technically _three_ —of them made their way into the genkan. "So this is Haru-chan's house!"

  
Haruka kept a careful eye on his two unexpected guests: the dog didn't appear to be all that impressed by its surroundings, to be honest, but Nagisa's eyes were as round as saucers while they took everything in—if the way he'd toed off his shoes at record speed was anything to go by, then he must've been very impatient to explore the rest of the house. As soon as he'd finished removing his shoes and coat, the younger boy eagerly leaned over to tug at one of the animal's pointed ears. It _looked_ rather painful to Haruka, but to his mild surprise they both seemed to enjoy it.

  
"You're really good with him." Haruka commented absent-mindedly, squatting down to take off his own shoes. Did Nagisa have any pets at home, or did he have a natural talent that allowed him to effortlessly make friends with animals and humans alike? There were far too many things he didn't know about this little whirlwind of a teammate of his.

  
"You think so?" Nagisa asked, raising his head just high enough to be able to grin up at Haruka—so brightly that Haruka had to stop himself form taking a startled step backwards. The genkan suddenly seemed too small to contain all of his friends' boundless energy. "I guess that's because my family used to have one!"

  
Haruka nodded, automatically reaching over to help Nagisa take off his colourful—and absurdly long—scarf before he'd even realised he'd moved. "Used to?"

  
"Uh huh..." Nagisa suddenly seemed to deflate. "He died a while ago. He was very old, but I still cried for three days straight when it happened."

  
Haruka wasn't certain how to react to that, so he turned away to hang Nagisa's scarf up one one of the hooks on the wall. When he'd finished with that, he held out his arm in what he hoped was a clear invitation for Nagisa to hand his coat over—along with an unspoken apology for his thoughtless words. He was suddenly starkly reminded of a similar conversation he'd had with Rin about the shape of his father's Heart Stone not too long ago. For some reason, Haruka was extraordinarily talented at putting his foot in his mouth.

  
Thankfully Nagisa never failed to bounce back quickly.

  
"Don't feel bad, Haru-chan!" He insisted cheerfully, smiling—just a little too widely—in what was a painfully obvious attempt to put Haruka's mind at ease. "You couldn't have known!"

  
Haruka quickly averted his eyes. It wouldn't do to dwell on such negative thoughts, however. Shrugging them off as well as he could, he gently nudged Nagisa out of the genkan. The dog trailed after them without needing to be prompted, curiously sniffing at the furniture on their way to the sitting room. He wasn't sure if his parents would have approved of him taking the stray _inside—_ but they'd both moved to Tokyo in order to focus on their careers, effectively leaving Haruka in charge of the house.

  
If he wanted to take in a stray, then there was nobody around to tell him that he couldn't do so. He doubted they would protest very much, either way—as long as the dog slept outside in the garden while they were home, that was.

  
"You can sit down and turn the kotatsu on, if you'd like." Haruka offered, already on his way into the kitchen. "I'll get us some drinks."

  
"Eeh?! No way—I'll help out too, Haru-chan!"

  
He'd already been expecting that kind of reply, really, so Haruka merely shrugged and moved aside to let Nagisa roam around freely. He told Nagisa where to find the the tea cups, and how to turn the water cooker on, before ducking down to rummage around in the cupboards for some snacks he thought Nagisa might like. In the end, he settled on a package of sugar-coated peanuts—and vowed to stock up on something more suitable for his bouncy friend's next visit.

  
Nagisa chattered amicably while Haruka poured the boiling water into their cups and placed them on a tray, along with a bowl for the peanuts. Haruka gradually found himself relaxing as he carefully carried the tray out into the sitting room, while Nagisa—and the dog—dashed off in the direction of the table. Things had been tense between him and Makoto lately, but his friendship with Nagisa was still the same as ever.

  
"Make yourself at home." Haruka told him, placing the tray down onto the table and half-heartedly rolling his eyes—because Nagisa certainly hadn't needed any invitation: the younger boy had already ducked underneath the heavy quilt of the kotatsu, and was excitedly feeling around for the switch hidden somewhere in its folds. "Turn the TV on if you want. I'll go hang up our swimsuits to dry."

  
He handed Nagisa the remote on his way out. Nagisa grinned gratefully up at him, tugging the the dog underneath the blanket with one arm while accepting the remote from Haruka with the other.

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

  
Haruka took his time fetching their bags from the genkan and carrying them into the bathroom. Nagisa's cheerful presence filling up all the nooks and crannies of the Nanase household felt nice—he could feel its warmth follow him around the house as he moved through the hallway and around the stairs. It probably wouldn't be too awful if Nagisa stayed for dinner. In fact, Haruka would welcome that very much.

  
Once he'd reached the bathroom, he tried very hard to focus on that amiable feeling in the air—whilst pointedly _not_ thinking about the startling discovery he'd made at the bottom of his _Iwatobi S.C._ messenger bag a couple of weeks ago. If he happened to avoid glancing in the direction of the sink while he diligently spread out their damp swimsuits and towels along the edge of the tub, well, no one was around to comment on it.

  
He'd been dealing with the consequences of Rin's impulsive actions about as well as could be expected: caring for _two_ Heart Stones had turned out to be surprisingly less work than he'd anticipated, so adjusting to the added responsibility of Rin's stone hadn't been nearly as jarring as it could've been. Things were a lot easier now that he was living on his own, as well. The sudden increase in privacy allowed Haruka to leave both of their stones out on the window-sill to soak up as much of the faint spring sunshine as they could while he was out at school.

  
He could now even take them around the house with him if he felt like it. Haruka had quickly found he rather enjoyed studying the ever changing hues of Rin's stone in between his chores, or after finishing his homework for the day. He'd accidentally fallen into the habit of placing Rin's container right next to his rice bowl while he had dinner and curiously glancing at it every now and then to check if its appearance had changed since the last time he'd looked at it. Sometimes it almost felt like Rin was right there with him, only without all of the troublesome small-talk that usually came along with actually having him around.

  
While he would rather eat slugs than ever admit this to its owner, knowing it was there—right next to his own, on the middle of his desk—helped him sleep better at night, too.

  
Its presence had become a tangible comfort to Haruka, whether he liked to acknowledge it to himself or not. He didn't quite feel comfortable with how much he'd come to rely on such a temporary fixture in his life, but having an active Heart Stone there for him to look at whenever he liked was such a novel concept that Haruka was loath to quit this particular bad habit just yet. As long as he made sure not to become as reliant on it as he had done with the water, surely there was no harm in indulging himself a little?

  
Realising he'd failed rather miserably at not thinking about Rin's stone, or it's owner, Haruka irritably decided to draw himself a bath. Nagisa wouldn't mind—in the worst case scenario, he'd probably simply insist on joining in. Haruka could bring himself to put up with one extra person in the bath tub with him as long as he got to feel the soothingly warm water on his skin. Or perhaps Nagisa would just want to get in first? In that case, Haruka should probably leave some towels and shampoo out on the side of the tub.

  
Pleased with his preparations, and beginning to worry about all of the things Nagisa could be getting up to in his absence, Haruka finally made his way back out into the hallway. As he did so, he nearly tripped over the black stray sitting at the foot of the stairs.

  
"What are you doing out here, boy?" He muttered, softly scratching the dog behind one of its ears the way he'd seen Nagisa do earlier. His tentative touch went completely ignored in favour of whatever had grabbed the animal's attention at the top of the stairs, however. "Why aren't you with Nagisa?"

  
His curiosity piqued, Haruka followed its line of sight up the steps—all the way up towards the vaguely familiar sight of Nagisa's socked feet: bright orange, with small yellow polka dots on them.

  
"Haru-chan..." A startled Nagisa breathed quietly the moment their eyes met, his voice oddly hesitant and serious. Haruka didn't like hearing him sound like that; it could only bode trouble. "I swear I didn't mean to snoop!"

  
"That's fine." He allowed easily, not one to be surprised—or bothered—by Nagisa's curious nature. "You should come down before your tea gets cold."

  
Nagisa took one step down the stairs, then abruptly shook his head. His blond curls went flying in all directions as he stared at Haruka with wide eyes. "No, no, no! You don't get it, Haru-chan— _I think I saw something I shouldn't have!_ "

  
Haruka froze.

  
No. That wasn't possible. The Heart Stones he'd left out on the window-sill that morning would be completely hidden by the curtains, resting on a makeshift bed he'd created out of a folded towel to prevent their containers from getting damaged by the condensation from the window. There's no way Nagisa would've looked behind them—he was curious, sure, but not _that_ curious. The younger swimmer wouldn't have touched anything without Haruka's permission. Right?

  
He swallowed, trying to get rid of the sudden lump at the back of his throat. "What happened, Nagisa?"

  
Nagisa must have been able to tell how badly his words had unsettled Haruka, because he suddenly smiled and scratched the back of his head a little nervously. "I didn't know you and Rin-chan were that close. That's all!"

  
Haruka had put the stones on the window-sill, yes, but their respective boxes had been left out on his desk to keep them dry. If Rin had shown Nagisa his Heart Stone, or even just its round container, at any point before he'd left for Australia—

  
"We're not." Haruka argued, albeit a little weakly. Rin's antique wooden box was extremely recognisable, wasn't it? "Why would you say that?"

  
Why had Haruka assumed Rin hadn't shown off his stone or it's unnecessarily fancy container to any of his other teammates? Was it just because Rin had waited until Makoto had left them alone before offering to share it with Haruka? That had been stupid of him—he should find another box to temporarily keep it in, and safely hide Rin's away, before this whole situation repeated itself with Makoto sooner or later.

  
"It's okay, Haru-chan!" Nagisa quickly insisted, making his way down the rest of the steps to throw his arms around Haruka in an impromptu hug. "I promise I won't tell anyone about it!"

  
"Tell them about what?" Haruka was forced to ask, although he was pretty certain he already knew the answer. There _was_ still a slight possibility that Nagisa had gone poking around underneath his bed and had somehow discovered his sketchbooks; there were quite a few drawings of Rin's weekend at the Nanase residence in there, which could also have led Nagisa to believe they were closer than they'd let on. Nagisa should've known better than to snoop under his bed, but...

  
"I saw the box on your desk!" Nagisa started, pulling back to cautiously peer up at Haruka's face. "It's Rin-chan's, isn't it? I've seen it before! His stone's _really pretty_ —like a starfish made out of crystal!"

  
Haruka couldn't think of anything to say in reply to that, so he said nothing at all. Of course Rin had shown Nagisa—his stunning Heart Stone was worth boasting about, after all. Rin had no doubt enjoyed the excited noises Nagisa made while they'd huddled together; Nagisa would've reciprocated as soon as he'd finished admiring Rin's, or he might have even been the first one to suggest exchanging quick peeks at their respective stones as a fun excuse to solidify their bond of friendship before Rin's inevitable departure.

  
Suddenly Haruka understood why Rin had left his stone in _Haruka's_ care; he'd been fighting that particular unwanted revelation ever since he'd read the message Rin had left behind for him to find, had genuinely been dreading the moment he'd be unable to avoid facing it any longer, but he couldn't continue to lie to himself.

  
Rin had figured it out—Rin _knew._

  
The thought of it left a bad taste in Haruka mouth. How had Rin, who had only been a part of their lives for a little over two months, managed such a feat? Haruka had been hiding the issue of his defective Heart Stone from everyone but his immediate family—and Makoto—for so long, it had almost become second nature to him... but with Rin, he'd slipped up.

  
It had just been once, but it had apparently been more than enough: now Rin was out there somewhere, miles and miles away from home, in a country where people spoke a language he wasn't even familiar with—without his beloved Heart Stone for company, merely because he'd decided Haruka needed it more than he did.

  
Whether he'd been right or not, well, that remained to be seen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OH BOY. 
> 
> I wonder if Haruka realises Nagisa probably thinks they're dating now?
> 
> Please do leave me a comment if you're still reading this! It really helps motivate me to write more & faster... =)


	5. Unpleasant Phone Calls

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me start out by apologizing for the delay, as usual. I'm sure you're all used to it by now. ^^;
> 
> This chapter deals with a couple more High Speed! 2 events, but by now it shouldn't be necessary to have any knowledge of those. Everything should be explained adequately! *grin!*

_"This one might very well be exactly what you're looking for."_

  
_Haruka curiously peered around the ageing cardboard he'd been perusing, holding out a dust stained hand—palm upturned and fingers spread loosely _—_ while he braced himself on the floor with the other. He waited patiently for his grandmother to place the object she'd found onto it, then curled his fingers securely around it as soon as he'd received an encouraging nod from her._

  
_"What is it?"_

  
_It looked promising enough: it was square in shape, smaller than most objects used for containers, yet deep and wide enough to hold Haruka's rather modestly sized stone comfortably. It had a subtle, almost understated shoreline design carved into the top of the lid _ _—rough waves, and the outline of two stylised plovers soaring above it.__ Nothing overly fancy, nor attention grabbing. Perfect._

  
_"If I remember correctly, your great-grandfather had this made in celebration of my birth. _I believe it originally held an accessory for her obi, but was later altered to store her favourite pair of earrings,"_ She explained, eyeing Haruka fondly across the mess they'd made of the attic. "My mother passed it on to me when I married your grandfather."_

  
_Haruka nudged the little golden latch upwards with his thumb. The lid opened easily, with minimal resistance or squeaking, revealing the luxurious velvet padding on the inside. Dark blue, he thought, just like the sky right before nightfall. His favourite colour, maybe. "Do you think it'll help?"_

  
_"I'm afraid I can't guarantee that, Haruka. I can tell you, however, that it's been crafted out of the finest mahogany—which is very strong and durable, making it one of the best materials for a Heart Stone container. They say healing of the spirit is one of mahogany's properties, and that it can even help you grow spiritually or provide guidance."_

  
_Haruka wasn't quite certain he understood what all of that meant, to be honest, but he liked the sound of its healing properties._ _It would hopefully have a better effect than the stainless steel—cold and impersonal—container his father had bought him at the department store around New Year's a couple of years ago._

  
 _"I really like it," Haruka told her solemnly. "Won't you miss it, though?"_

  
_"I trust you'll take good care of it for me, dear heart," She assured him, leaning over the box between them—roughly the same way Haruka had done moments before—to nudge his chin up with an insistent finger. He shyly met her clear blue eyes. His grandmother could be an intimidating woman, but when she smiled the harsh line of her lips would disappear and the corners of her eyes would crinkle in a way that never failed to put Haruka at ease. "I'd even go so far as to say you were always meant to have it."_

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

  
The tea _had_ gotten cold.

  
Nagisa didn't voice any complaints about it, however, so Haruka had no choice but to follow his lead and refrain from bringing it up. Nagisa's legs were spread out in a comfortable sprawl underneath the kotatsu, his socked feet bracketing Haruka's knees as he leaned forward to slide a small plastic box across the smooth wooden surface of the table, and his lips were curled in a disarming smile.

  
None of these things helped put Haruka at ease at all.

  
"Nagisa..."

  
He placed a reluctant hand on top of the offered object, watching Nagisa take another sip of the lukewarm tea out of the corner of his eye. He'd seen glimpses of this particular Heart Stone container a handful of times before: most notably when they'd all buried the team's trophy underneath the camellia tree, but it had also been a regular presence in the locker rooms at the swim club and during tournaments _._ Nagisa was simply the type to carry it around with him at all times.

  
Haruka had yet to see its contents, but then again, a swimming pool likely wasn't the ideal place for such things. Not at their age, at least. 

  
"Rin-chan's is really pretty, isn't it?" Nagisa began, lowering his cup to the table with a clatter so loud that it startled both of them _and_ the dog that had enthusiastically settled down at his friend's side as soon as it had become clear they'd remain there for a while. "Mine's a seashell, so I guess it's a little bit like his. Too bad it doesn't _do_ much yet!"

  
Haruka blinked. He'd always assumed Nagisa's stone would be just as active as its owner—ever-changing swirls of bright colour, with a faint glow from within representing the boundless energy and enthusiasm that was such an important part of Nagisa's personality. Did that mean Nagisa was a 'late bloomer', too?

  
"Mine is very different from Rin's—and Makoto's as well," Haruka told him, lightly fingering the large clasp at the front of the plastic container. Judging by the row of navy coloured penguins painted around the lid, the box's original purpose hadn't included the storage of Heart Stones. It suited Nagisa perfectly, however. That's all that mattered, wasn't it? "I don't like showing people."

  
"Of course they're all different, Haru-chan!" Nagisa's amused giggles escalated into full blown laughter when the dog next to him happily licked a wet stripe along his cheek. "There's nothing wrong with wanting to keep it private, though! You don't have to show me yours if you don't want to, you know?"

  
Haruka frowned. "Did Rin tell you that?"

  
"Rin-chan?" Nagisa looked up, in clear surprise, from where he'd been running his hands through the dog's black fur as it contently wagged its tail. "No, it was my eldest sister. I've never seen hers! I was super curious at first—I used to try and sneak a peek all the time when I was little. _I'd get into so much trouble._ "

  
"That sounds a little more like you." Haruka commented distractedly while he tried to shake off the unnerving sense of déjà-vu that had come over him at the sound of Nagisa's earlier words—they'd been such an eerie echo of Rin's that Haruka was honestly surprised it had simply been a coincidence in the end.

  
"That's mean, Haru-chan!" Nagisa pouted, although he instantly failed to keep a straight face and broke out into a wide grin instead. Haruka was glad he hadn't taken any offence. "I don't do it anymore _now_!"

  
He had to admit to feeling a little curious about Nagisa's story in spite of his ever present reluctance to discuss these kind of subjects so openly. It was impossible to keep himself from asking: "What happened?"

  
"I think I wore her down...?" Nagisa shrugged indifferently, absent-mindedly scratching the pleased looking stray behind its ears. Its tail was wagging back and forth in a blur of black fur, occasionally smacking into one of the kotatsu's fabric covered legs. "She whispered its shape into my ear after dinner one day! I finally stopped bothering her after that, and by now kind of I'm used to never having seen it."

  
Haruka nodded, taking the end of Nagisa's explanation as his cue to open the box. Raising the lid revealed a small fabric pouch, unmistakably handmade, gathered together with a loose knot. There were no penguins printed on the material, but it had undeniably been made with the utmost care and love.

  
Nagisa suddenly stopped petting the dog and eagerly turned his full attention on Haruka, who hesitantly undid the knot and allowed the stone to slide out into the palm of his hand—all under Nagisa's approving gaze. "My mother made that for me!"

  
"It's nice," Haruka commented automatically, distantly hoping it'd be clear that he wasn't simply talking about the pouch. He ran a careful finger along its curved edge, admiring the surprisingly detailed surface. It looked almost exactly like the shells his mother loved to collect on the beach during the summer: impossibly smooth on the inside, and gently ribbed along the outside. The only difference was its size and colour—Nagisa's Heart Stone was considerably larger than the shells commonly found on Iwatobi's coastline, and it had an unusual golden shine to it that darkened sharply near the edges. "Do you think someone out there has a matching one?"

  
"No way!" Nagisa made a disgusted face, shaking his head emphatically. "It'd be boring if I gave mine away and received the other half in return. I'd rather get something different and exciting!"

  
Haruka nodded good naturedly, but he couldn't help but wonder what it'd be like to own a Heart Stone that was technically only one part of a whole; thankfully Nagisa didn't seem to mind it in the least. Had Rin asked the same question upon seeing this stone for the first time? How had _he_ reacted to the idea of someone else's stone completing his own...?

  
"Nagisa," Haruka eventually tried to guide the conversation back onto the matter at hand again; shifting around on top of the pillow, tucked underneath his bent knees, to get a little more comfortable. It looked like he wouldn't be getting up again any time soon. "I haven't told Makoto."

  
The playful look on Nagisa's face immediately morphed into a more serious one—it unsettled Haruka, being the sole object of such blatant scrutiny. "Why not?"

  
"He's awful at keeping secrets," Haruka reluctantly confided, fingers unconsciously curling more tightly around Nagisa's stone. "It's better if he doesn't know."

  
Nagisa appeared to have seen through the half-hearted excuse with very little effort, because he fixed Haruka with an understanding smile. "You can count on me, Haru-chan! I promise I won't breathe a word of it to anyone!"

  
It wasn't an ideal situation, but Haruka could tell Nagisa was being one hundred percent sincere. He would simply need to learn to trust Nagisa with this secret and hope that everything would work out for the best. "My parents would make me send it back to Rin as soon as they found out."

  
"Don't worry—I'd never let that happen!" Nagisa readily reassured him. "It was really surprising to see Rin-chan's container in your room, though! When did he give it to you, Haru-chan?"

  
Should he tell Nagisa that Rin hadn't exactly _given_ it to him? That it had simply been left it behind for him to find? Haruka wasn't quite sure if that made it better or worse, however. He settled on: "The day before he left for Australia."

  
"Oh!" Nagisa suddenly exclaimed. Haruka watched with growing apprehension as his friend's eyes widened in excitement. "Was it as wet as they say it is, Haru-chan?"

  
 _Huh?_

  
Haruka blinked in confusion. Nagisa wasn't supposed to know Rin had hidden the container in his _Iwatobi S.C._ bag—so then, where had that unexpected question come from? Was there some kind of strange tradition, involving the use of water while exchanging Heart Stones, that Haruka had previously been aware of? "What are you talking about, Nagisa?"

  
"You have to tell me, Haru-chan!" Nagisa implored, staring up at him with an endearingly curious expression on his face. Haruka wished he'd hurry up and explain himself already. "What's it _like_? Did you use tongues? That looks kinda gross, but—"

  
If Haruka had chosen that moment to take a sip of his cold tea, he'd likely have choked on it. "We haven't kissed!"

  
"Ehh...?! You don't have to hide it from me, you know!" Nagisa muttered, crossing his arms across his chest and sharing a conspirational look with the dog next to him. "I swear I won't tell anyone about it!"

  
In hindsight, Haruka should have seen this coming. It was a very logical conclusion to make, after all. Nagisa knew Rin inside and out, and was well aware of Rin's tendency to make grand gestures—not to mention the fact that Rin was a self-proclaimed romantic to boot. Haruka could hardly blame Nagisa for assuming they were... _involved_.

  
That's what anyone would think; including their parents. That's why Rin was _an insufferable idiot_. Haruka wanted so badly to tell him a piece of his mind; because there was no way, none whatsoever, that Rin hadn't considered this exact outcome—and had then decided to go ahead with his ridiculous plan either way.

  
"You've got the wrong—"

  
"—If you haven't done _that_ stuff, then why did Rin-chan give you his Heart Stone?" Nagisa interrupted, looking a little bashful now that he'd realised his mistake.

  
"You should ask Rin that." Haruka muttered sullenly. It was the best answer he could give Nagisa right now. Even if he'd been willing to open up about the circumstances regarding Rin's decision— _and he wasn't_ —that still didn't mean Rin's actual reasons for making said decision were his to divulge. Not without Rin's blessing, at least.  

  
"Can I really, Haru-chan?" Nagisa asked eagerly, switching gears so unexpectedly that Haruka nearly forgot to school his reaction. "I've got Rin-chan's address! I wanted to wait until I could tell him all about getting to swim on my new club's medley relay team, but now I can write to him much sooner!"

  
Haruka frowned, considering his options very carefully. He hadn't meant for his remark to be taken literally, but if Nagisa wanted to write to Rin about his Heart Stone there was no reason for him to interfere. Rin had only asked him to keep it _safe..._ that didn't mean Haruka wasn't allowed to tell their mutual friends about his new-found responsibility as he deemed fit, did it?

  
Of course keeping it safe generally meant keeping it secret—at least where adults were concerned—but the damage had already been done. It was too late for regrets now. Rin would understand.

  
"Whatever."

  
Haruka grudgingly lowered his eyes to hide his uneasiness—and to signal the end of _that_ particular discussion. He slowly turned Nagisa's Heart Stone over in his hand, admiring the way the colours pulsated faintly as he did so. It felt markedly different from holding Rin's, despite the fact that both stones were similar in size and weight.

  
Nagisa made a loud, cheerful noise in his excitement. Haruka winced. "I want to see the look on Rin-chan's face when he reads my letter—I bet he's going to be super surprised! I promise I won't forget to tell him you're looking after his stone really well! D'you think he'd like that?"

  
Haruka had meant to form an irritated reply to that, he really had... but there was something... _very peculiar_ happening in the palm of his hand that had rather rudely demanded all of his attention. At first he thought he'd merely imagined it—but the longer he held it, the harder it became write it off as a coincidence: the timing of the pulses was gradually adjusting itself to the increasing rhythm of Haruka's frantically beating heart. He swallowed back a startled gasp, staring down at the palm of his hand in wonder.

  
"I—" Haruka began dazedly, trying hard to keep his tone from sounding too accusatory. He'd been unprepared for this. "—thought you said it wasn't very active?"

  
He could still, rather unfortunately, very clearly remember how flustered he'd been the first time he'd been passed Rin's Heart Stone; or more importantly, how heavy and intimate the moment had felt. He would've thought this—having Nagisa's stone adapt, and fine-tune itself, to Haruka's _heartbeat_ —should be a similar experience, but... it wasn't quite the same. It _was_ definitely a little exhilarating, and had unmistakably made him feel closer to Nagisa in a way he hadn't thought possible outside of a swimming context, but Haruka suspected it had only been so because it had been so unexpected.

  
"It's not!" Nagisa insisted adamantly, reaching a hand out to playfully tap his own Heart Stone with the tip of his finger in reprimand. "It's only ever done that with Rin-chan and Mako-chan before. It's because we're _nakama_ , right?"

  
Could it really be that simple? Over the past couple of weeks, Haruka had become accustomed to handling Rin's Heart Stone to the point where it barely felt any different from handling his own. In turn, the stone had learned to tolerate, and even welcome, Haruka's increasing touches. It didn't modify itself to the rhythm of Haruka's heart, and the colours didn't swirl around his fingertips the way they'd done for their owner, but it clearly had its own ways of acknowledging Haruka's presence: whenever he held it in his hands it would radiate a comforting warmth—not unlike the way it felt to sink into a hot bath at the end of a tiring day—and it resonated somewhere deep within his chest before slowly spreading out all throughout his body, almost as if it was trying to encourage him to indulge himself more often.

  
His own stone never reacted that warmly to him, but then again... Rin had always been a bit of an over-achiever, hadn't he? Perhaps it made sense, in an oddly unconventional way.

  
Maybe, at least in Nagisa's case, it really _was_ that simple.

  
"I'll go make some more tea," Haruka announced a touch abruptly, carefully sliding Nagisa's stone back into its pouch and replacing everything securely in the plastic container on the table. He pushed himself up from his seiza position in between Nagisa's feet, steeled himself, and leaned over to whisper in his friend's ear: "Mine's a sphere."

  
Then he quickly retreated to the kitchen.

 

 

 

* * *

  

 

  
 _"Haruka!"_

  
His mother's voice sounded painfully shrill across the line. He winced, instinctively holding the phone a couple of centimetres further away from his ear.

  
"Hi." He tried, scrambling for something placating to say. Hearing the unusual exasperation in her voice had brought home to him that they had somehow gone without direct contact for nearly a week. Lately he'd been outside of the house during their designated 'phone call hour' between six and seven o'clock; which had been rather aptly named—but _not_ because their conversations would last for a whole hour. It just meant Haruka would be expected to remain in the vicinity of the land-line telephone, tucked away in a corner of the living room, for the duration of it. It was absolutely ridiculous.

  
The weather had steadily been getting warmer while summer approached, slowly but surely, which meant Haruka could more often than not be found curled up on the porch with Makkou—and the two Heart Stones currently in his care—while the phone rang in vain inside. He _liked_ spending time out there; whenever he wasn't soaking in the bath tub, he'd make sure to soak up as many rays of the evening sun as he could instead. It wasn't like the parental check-ups were a daily occurrence, after all. Why should Haruka and Makkou be stuck waiting for a phone call that probably wouldn't even come—especially if it tended to barely last a handful of minutes on the rare occasion that it _did_?

  
There was no point.

  
"You sure are an elusive boy!" His mother complained unnecessarily loudly, considering Haruka had turned the volume of the TV down as soon as he'd heard the phone ring. "Your father and I have been worried about you, you know?"

  
"I'm sorry," He said, even though he really wasn't. "School's been busy, and I've been going to the swim club a lot."

  
"No kidding!" She retaliated tiredly. Haruka could practically _hear_ her pinch the bridge of her nose. "Tachibana-san mentioned not having seen you around much this week, and what's this I heard about you adopting—"

  
"His name is Makkou!" Haruka interrupted hurriedly, reeling from the unanticipated change of subject. How had word managed to spread so quickly about the stray he'd taken in? "I build him a dog house. He's got black fur, and he's really well behaved."

  
"That's not the problem, Haruka," His mother replied tersely. "You're not in the same class as Makoto-kun anymore this year, are you?"

  
Haruka had no idea where she intended to go with this line of questioning—it was seriously throwing him off his game, and keeping him on his toes. "No, I'm not... Makoto is in class 2."

  
"If I'd known that would happen, I'd have stayed with you in Iwatobi a little longer."

  
The bold statement wasn't even remotely true. They were both inescapably aware of its falsehood, but that didn't make the sentiment any less of a comfort to Haruka. "I'm fine."

  
"You took in a stray— _and build it a dog house!_ " His mother reminded him, clearly reaching the end of her patience. "Don't you tell me you're not feeling a little lonesome, Haruka!"

  
Her absence had honestly brought very little change with it: Haruka had already been used to practically 'living on his own' for quite a while, and the only noticeable difference in his life recently had been his faltering connection with the water—and the building tension between him and his best friend. There was no way he could tell her about any of that, though.

  
Seeing as he had no acceptable reply for such an accusation, Haruka merely remained quiet.

  
In the end, his mother broke the tense silence with a weary sigh. "Perhaps you weren't ready for such a big adjustment after all."

  
"I'm fine," Haruka repeated. If there was ever a time that he hadn't been, then the alarming discovery he'd made at the bottom of his _Iwatobi S.C._ messenger bag had certainly put an end to that...

  
Unfortunately, that was yet another thing he couldn't tell her about.

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

  
"Come on, boy!" Haruka urged breathlessly, bare feet slapping harshly on the wet sand below as the two of them sprinted along the deserted coastline. His toes must've been an angry red colour by now, courtesy of the early spring weather, but they were completely hidden underneath a thick layer of sticky foam and beach grit. Makkou looked far worse, though. It was going to be such a pain to clean him up later.

  
The dog eagerly sped up besides him in a blur of messy, black fur. They charged through the shore together until Haruka couldn't possibly run any further. Makkou barrelled into the back of his calves as soon as he came to a panting halt, sending both of them toppling over into the sand. He laughed, a startlingly raw and unvarnished sound, and helplessly held his hands up while Makkou jumped into his lap and began unabashedly licking his sweaty face and neck.

  
He eventually gave up resisting, letting his arms fall down uselessly onto the beach as he lay back to catch his breath. Makkou took the hint and settled down next to him, tongue lolling—and tail wagging—contently.

  
"That was fun, wasn't it?" Haruka asked in between rough exhales. "We're going to need a bath when we get home, though."

  
Makkou didn't pay him any mind, eyes firmly trained on a seagull cracking open a scallop in the distance. That was fine. Haruka hadn't been looking for a response anyway.

  
"Don't worry—baths are nice!" Haruka continued, running a tired hand through Makkou's wet fur. "If Rin were here, he'd probably call it _bonding_. He's always saying weird stuff like that."

  
Haruka let his hand rest on top of Makkou's sand-covered flank for a moment, mulling his next words over in his head. "He's so troublesome, Makkou. You wouldn't believe some of the things that idiot can come up with."

  
When he had finally caught his breath he reluctantly pushed himself up by his elbows, until he was sitting cross-legged on the uncomfortably cold and muddy beach. Makkou shifted to press himself up against Haruka's trembling thigh.

  
"I bet he'd love to meet you," He added, a little more quietly, after a beat. "You'd probably like him a lot: practically everyone does. I hope I get to introduce you soon."

  
The sooner Rin came back... the sooner Haruka could return his Heart Stone to him, after all. The fact that Haruka had slowly begun to miss his antics had no bearing on his words whatsoever.

  
Honestly.

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

   
"Haruka, are you listening to me?"

  
Haruka nodded automatically, then belatedly remembered his mother couldn't actually _see_ him do it. He hurriedly muttered a put-upon: " _Yes_."

  
"Don't take that tone with me!" She scolded him, although there was very little bite to the words. "This is important. Tachibana-san told me she hasn't seen hide nor hair of you all week. What could you possibly have been getting up to?"

  
"Makoto's busy. I've been playing outside with Makkou a lot," Haruka explained grudgingly, fighting the urge to roll his eyes and losing the battle embarrassingly quickly. "I'm doing fine."

  
"I find that very hard to believe," His mother tiredly retorted. "Look, Haruka... I don't have much time tonight, so I'll keep this brief: your father and I are very concerned. We've asked your grandmother to keep an eye on you—she'll be moving in during Golden Week."

  
"Grandma's moving in?" Haruka repeated stupidly, raising his eyebrows at no one in particular. He _liked_ living on his own. "That's not necessary! I told you I'm fine, Mom." 

  
His grandmother moving in would be an absolute nightmare. Makkou wouldn't be allowed to sleep in his bed any longer, he'd have to keep Rin's stone hidden at all times, _and_ she'd undoubtedly ask him all kinds of unwanted questions about his own defect one. Haruka liked his grandmother well enough, but her arrival would undeniably mean he'd have to say goodbye to all of the little things he'd taken such comfort in over the last couple of weeks—and he simply didn't feel ready for that.

  
At all.

  
"Haruka, listen, I have to go now," His mother was saying, although Haruka could barely make out the words over the unbearably loud rush in his ears. "We'll discuss this later."

  
The line went dead, abruptly taking Haruka's cautiously good mood along with it.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please do leave me a comment if you're so inclined! It helps keep me motivated, especially now that I'm doing NaNoWriMo! I'm at 8468 words so far - so about 1k ahead of schedule, but I haven't got much time tomorrow & I'm terrified of falling one day behind. I doubt I will make it the entire week. *wry smile!*
> 
> P.S. This chapter felt pretty filler-ish while I was working on it, but looking back on it now... I think there's a lot of subtle (& not-so-subtle) stuff going on in the background? I hope it wasn't too boring! T_T
> 
> P.P.S. The flower language & Japanese imagery (on Haruka's & Rin's containers) are all based on this useful website: http://contest.japias.jp/tqj13/130410/kimono-of-season-eng.html 
> 
> (Haruka's water scenery isn't based on is love for swimming alone. Hint: try the summer months!)


End file.
